In currently manufactured vehicles, it is common to have disc brakes installed on all four corners of the vehicle with the wheels mounted on a hub attached to an axle. The wheel is mounted on a hub that is retained in a bearing that is fixed to a support member that in turn is secured to the suspension of the vehicle. A rotor located on the hub has a peripheral surface that is aligned between first and second friction members retained by a caliper member. A brake application is effected by moving first and second friction members into engagement with first and second braking surfaces adjacent to the peripheral surface of the rotor. In disc brake systems, it is important that the first and second friction members and the rotor are maintained in a parallel relationship, otherwise during a revolution of rotation of the rotor, the axial movement, commonly referred to as “lateral runout”, between the first and second friction members can vary and adversely effect a smooth brake application. The effect of lateral runout is sensed by an operator as a surging action or movement on the brake pedal and/or vibrations in the vehicle.
Various processes have been suggested to define a perpendicular relationship between a brake rotor and the axis of rotation of the wheel hub such as the conjugate machining of a rotor and a wheel hub in U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,388; the finishing of a wheel hub that is attached to a knuckle assembly of a steering mechanism in U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,981; and finishing a rotor when installed on a vehicle in U.S. Pat. No. 6,477,928. The processes disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,842,388 and 6,212,981 function in an adequate manner for original equipment that is installed in the manufacture of a new vehicle, unfortunately wear conditions may make it necessary to replace the rotor. Thereafter, when an original rotor is replaced with a new rotor it is possible that manufacturing tolerances may be cumulative and as a result in a stack up of tolerances the resulting “lateral runout” may be unacceptable in a mixture of new and old components in a disc brake. In addition, the process disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,477,928 while functioning in an adequate manner may be too time consuming and costly for wide spread acceptance of by most owners of vehicle.